88 Camry, no cold start

[plhunkele]

88 Camry, 2 liter EFI, 123000 mi. Hard starting cold, otherwise runs and drives fine. I pulled the cold start injector and found it caked. Suspended the working end in Castrol Super Clean which appeared to clear it nicely. Reinstalled it with no change. Pulled it from the manifold and left it connected to the fuel pipe and, with all suitable precautions, had an assistant crank the engine. No fuel from the injector. Backed off the union bolt a tad and was assured that I am getting fuel to the injector. At what pressure, I do not know. Disconnected the electrical connector and put a digital meter on the connector and while cranking I saw no voltage. The car did haltingly start when I ran the last test.
What should i expect to see on a the meter if the car is 'cold'? It has not been run, but the temperature is in the 80's today.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,

[Joe W]

If you run the computer for codes it will help to point you in the right direction.

[Brian R.]

80 degrees is still cold for the engine. You should see a 12v signal to the injector, either pulsed or continuous. Make sure you were making good contact with the connector contacts. Check the resistance of the cold-start injector. Should be 2-4 ohms. Different from that may mean it's bad. If the resistance is 0, then it may have caused a fuse to blow and that would explain your 0 volt reading for the injector signal.

And like Joe said, if stumped, get the codes from the computer.

[plhunkele]

No stored codes. I got the 2 second constant blink.
Cold Start Injector ohmed out at 3 and clicked when I jumped 12 volts to it. I pulled the injector again, leaving it connected to the fuel pipe with the electrical connector disconnected. I cranked the engine briefly to assure I had fuel pressure and put the bussiness end of the injector into a hole in the side of a clear plastic jug. I jumpered 12 volts to it and it is atomizing fuel out very nicely. I'm just not getting voltage to the injector. I checked the readily accessible fuses by the battery and under the dash. All are ok. My Chiltons says it's controlled by a "timer circuit and as a function of coolant temperature". Please don't tell me it's the ECU, I have visions of installing a pushbutton of the dash. ; ) Thanks again,
Paul

[typesix]

It's the cold start injector timer that's the culprit. It senses the water temp and allows the cold start injector to squirt the extra gas for cold starts. It's a common replacement on Toyotas, I replaced the one on my 89 Camry last year. Price is $120-140 at dealer.

[plhunkele]

[quote=typesix]It's the cold start injector timer that's the culprit.

Thanks again. Just need to find it. : ) The Chilton's is not going into enough depth for me to find it on this 4 cyl engine. The dealer parts dept. said it is in a "housing on the front of the engine". I found on a bracket next to the battery tray an "igniter", but the numbers on it do not match the part number of 8946230011 the dealer gave me for the cold start injector "switch". He did not list a "timer".

Also, is there a pass / fail test I can run on it once I find it?

You guys have been a world of help.
Paul

[Mike Gerber]

typesix is correct. It is your cold start time switch. That is what activates your cold start injector. It is located to the right of the cylinder head as you are standing in front of the car facing the engine. There should be 2 colored plastic connectors; the green one will be for the coolant temperature sensor and the brown one will be for the cold start time switch-that's the one you want. Once you locate it, you have to gently pull the locking wire on the connector to each side ( a stiff straightened paper clip works well for this) and then pull the connector off. Then a large wrench or a deep socket (sorry I don't remember the size) unscrews it. There is a check for this. I believe you check resistance with a DVM, which will vary at different temperatures. You need a service manual for the specs; factory, Haynes or Chiltons. I believe you will find it out of range. When you remove it you will lose a bit of coolant some have some around to refill.

Mike

[NYDINO]

Originally Posted by typesix

It's the cold start injector timer that's the culprit. It senses the water temp and allows the cold start injector to squirt the extra gas for cold starts. It's a common replacement on Toyotas, I replaced the one on my 89 Camry last year. Price is $120-140 at dealer.

I just wanted to thank this guy because my car was driving me crazy and than I found this forum and post, and fixed a nagging problem in minutes.
Thanks again Bro